


Burned

by TeaRoses



Category: Black Jack - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-01-12
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:44:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaRoses/pseuds/TeaRoses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a little girl is burned, Pinoko insists Black Jack help.  Kiriko has his own reasons for being there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burned

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for 31_days on LiveJournal, for the prompt "burn the length and breadth of sky."
> 
> I played fast and loose with medicine here, only because canon also does so. Also, I didn't use honorifics, as I didn't want to make a big mistake with them.

All Dr. Black Jack could see was fire. Three of the neighborhood's homes had been destroyed so far, and the fire had soared into the sky, making him wince just to watch it. Firemen stood with hoses, finally gaining some control over the flames engulfing the old wooden houses. But there was no ambulance there yet.

"We need to stay," said Pinoco. "They might need our help."

"If they can pay for it," said Black Jack.

"You always say that," Pinoco pouted.

As they watched, a fireman brought out a little girl, limp in his arms.

"That's the first victim we've seen," Black Jack murmured.

The fireman carried the little girl to an ambulance. As it left, he turned to Dr. Black Jack and Pinoco.

"That child was the only one we couldn't get out in time. I'm afraid there's not much hope for her though. She's badly burned."

"We have to go to the hospital!" Pinoco said, pulling on Dr. Black Jack's hand. "We have to save that little girl. And don't you dare make them pay!"

If it hadn't been such a serious situation, Dr. Black Jack would have laughed. "Very well, we'll go over to the hospital. But the fireman may be right and there's nothing we can do for her."

"You always say to never give up," said Pinoco.

They drove to the hospital. When they arrived, a woman was weeping in the emergency room's waiting area.

"My little Yomiko was burned in the fire. They say she'll die,” the woman said.

"But this is the famous Dr. Black Jack, and we're here to save her," Pinoco said.

As they spoke, a man with long white hair entered the waiting area. Dr. Black Jack stared at him hostilely.

"Kiriko," he said in a low growl. "What are you doing here? Did you follow the ambulance?"

"Didn't you?" Kiriko asked.

"We don't have any need for your services here," said Black Jack.

"Yeah, you get out of here," said Pinoco, sticking her tongue out at him. She turned to Yomiko's mother. "We're going to cure your daughter."

Dr. Kiriko cleared his throat. "Ma'am, I have to advise you that if your daughter is near death--"

"Burn victims can be saved, or I wouldn't be here right now," said Dr. Black Jack angrily. He stalked into the emergency room to speak with the hospital's doctors.

The doctor in charge of Yomiko's case was a woman, Dr. Yamamoto. "If the burns didn't cover so much of her body, a skin transplant might save her," the doctor said. "But as it is, there's nothing to do but wait for the end."

"I can do a transplant," insisted Black Jack. "If you'll allow me to operate."

"But I know who you are," said Dr. Yamamoto. "You're unlicensed. And you'll charge an exhorbitant fee. I'm sure the little girl's family can't pay you."

"Never mind my usual fee," said Dr. Black Jack. He was thinking to himself that he didn't want to face Pinoco's wrath if he asked the girl's mother for millions of yen. Anyway, he intended to operate no matter what. He wasn't about to let Dr. Kiriko kill this little girl.

"But where would we find the skin?" the woman asked. "There's too much to take it from one person, even an adult."

"Advertise on the radio," suggested Black Jack. "Get a bunch of potential donors in here right away."

Dr. Yamamoto nodded. "Very well."

Yomiko's mother insisted that Dr. Black Jack be allowed to operate, and Dr. Yamamoto reluctantly agreed to turn a blind eye to the unlicensed surgeon's presence in her hospital. The mother was invited in to wait with her unconscious daughter as Black Jack paced the waiting area, hoping for the arrival of skin donors. 

"The girl will never survive," Dr. Kiriko told him as he left the hospital.

Black Jack pretended to ignore him and Pinoco only glared. Finally after a long wait and several desperate radio announcements they called him into the operating theatre. He was responsible only for the girl, the hospital's doctors had harvested the sheets of skin from the donors. He used his best needle technique to cover the areas where the girl's skin had burned away. "You'll resemble Frankenstein's monster, the way I do," he said to her unconscious form as he finished the last transplant. "But at least you'll live."

"She survived the operation and now has a good chance at life," he said as he left the room and encountered Yumiko's mother. "And you can go home!" he shouted as he saw Dr. Kiriko in the corner. "I thought you were already gone."

Dr. Kiriko made a scoffing sound and turned for the door. "Perhaps I'm not here for the reason you think I am," he muttered as he left.

"I wonder what he meant by that," said Dr. Black Jack with contempt. Pinoco tugged on his hand. "Dr. Kiriko gave some of his skin to the little girl," she said. "I saw him waiting in the line."

Dr. Black Jack's eyes widened. "I almost wouldn't believe you. But I suppose even Dr. Kiriko is capable of a little humanity now and then."


End file.
